AAW Radar Conducts Multiple Tasks Simultaneously

Indra has signed a contract with Lockheed Martin to supply the main components of the Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) S-band anti-air warfare (AAW) radar antenna for the F110 future frigate, the Spanish company announced on 12 December. The value of the contract, which will make this frigate one of the most advanced of its kind in the world, amounts to over €150 million and will last for seven years.

Signing of the agreement at Navantia’s headquarters in Madrid was immediately preceded by the signature of Lockheed Martin’s contract with Navantia to equip the Spanish Navy’s forthcoming five F110 frigates with S-band radars, as well as the Integrated Ground Systems Center (CIST) in which the system will be tested.

This subcontract signed with Indra is within the framework of Lockheed Martin’s S-band radar contract and will supply critical elements to support the digital transmission and reception of each of the radars’ elements. This is the first of the contracts that Indra expects to be awarded during the construction phase of the five frigates to equip them with the sensors that their built-in mast carries.

The fully digitized S-band AAW radar is one of the ship’s key sensors and will give it a dominant edge in combat. It is composed of hundreds of small independent blocks or tiles and the layout of its flat facets around the mast minimize the vessel’s radar profile. Thanks to these digital tiles, the system will be able to operate as if it had several radars working simultaneously, which gives it a multitasking capability. It may, for example, operate as a long-range radar and integrate missile control, as well as setting tracking on multiple targets.